[ Reviewed by: Jay ] - [ Date: Friday, 14th December, 2001 ]

 

This map has been ready for a while, waiting for the right time to be released - right time as defined by the authors, because The Resident SPQ2 Fiend and other SPQ2 fans in the know have been looking forward to this one for quite some time.

 

Right off the bat, we are treated to a typical Kona map - visually very slick and detailed, with textures by Metlslime from Oblivion, according to the text file. The sky, though, is trademark Kona: blue, beautiful, and very different from most other skies, even if we do not see a lot of it in this map. The theme is another Strogg base, but this one is by no means YASB. The MetsFan was very taken with the lighting, and The Fiend concurs. Again typical of a Kona map, the action meanders around and around, and you get to revisit the same area many times from different vantage points and through different doors, very reminiscent of Machine Reborn. In other words, if you see a door you cannot go through, either it will open for you later, or you will find yourself coming through it from the other side. The Fiend found only one of the two secrets - it is in plain sight, but requires taking damage to get. Actually, there are a couple of places that require taking some damage to proceed, which both The Fiend and MetsFan find distasteful - but one could argue that Real Life(tm) also requires damage occasionally... Layout was fairly linear; there are alternative paths to pursue, but not very far if one wants to progress. Still, it did not feel like cattle-in-a-chute construction to The Fiend. Maybe it was the lighting.

 

Watch out for that slime, though - if you fall in it, you're toast, because there is generally no way to get out of it.

 

Gameplay? Well it is up to the usual Kona standards, but maybe not as tough as some. Satyr was a a lot harder, with 197 enemies to the 120 here, and even Machine Reborn had a tougher ending. Nonetheless, you are never going to be bored. Placement is excellent, and the authors are not afraid to spawn new enemies in cleared areas. In fact, this may be another minor gripe for The Fiend: the enemies spawn with no teleporter sound and no warning except for the typical Quake 2 "thunk" sound. Still, the combat is quite survivable, and ammo is quite adequate, especially for us Blaster Fiends. Be careful of the health, though. There is enough of it, but by no means too much. MetsFan was not too fond of the ending, and it was indeed a tad difficult, particularly if one does not have the Quad Damage for the Makron. Not too many places to hide, but The Fiend managed, after some On-The-Job training, in the form of getting killed out...

 

Final remark: once you've taken down the Jorg/Makron mentioned in the story, that's it. You will be thrown into another map, but you have accomplished your mission, and can take a rest.

 

Another Superb effort from Kona, this time in conjunction with Metlslime. Go forth, all you Fiendlets, and blast those Strogg to gibs in these delightful surroundings... and remember to let Kona and Metlslime know how much you enjoyed their efforts...